CTIA files a suit against the city of San Francisco, looking to block a recently approved ordinance that would raise consumer awareness about cell phone radiation levels. – CTIA is suing the city and county of San Francisco in hopes of blocking the
enforcement of the Cell
Phone Right-to-Know ordinance that the city’s Board of Supervisors recently
passed. The ordinance requires cell phone retailers to display, in a manner and
place noticeable to shoppers, the amount…
The Supreme Court gets it right by tweaking, but not overturning, the controversial legislation
AMERICAN business people of a conservative nature have been dreaming about driving a stake through the heart of the Sarbanes-Oxley act ever since the legislation was passed, back in 2002, in the wake of the Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and Global Crossing scandals. George Bush rightly described the legislation as “the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt”. But to its critics it is far-reaching in the wrong direction. The American Enterprise Institute, a right-wing think-tank, has dismissed Sarbox as a “colossal failure”. Ron Paul, a Texan libertarian, has argued that it puts America at a competitive disadvantage. The Wall Street Journal thunders that it has “imposed hundreds of billions of dollars in costs on business with no noticeable decline in financial scandals”. Newt Gingrich has urged Congress, the body that he once dominated, to repeal the act.
But how could it be killed? A few years ago a conservative group called the Free Enterprise Fund thought that it had found the answer. The heart of Sarbox is a body called the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The board’s job is to regulate the accounting industry—in effect, to audit the auditors. The Free Enterprise Fund argued that the board violated the separation-of-powers clause of the constitution, because its members are hired by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), rather than by the president. They also argued that, because the legislation has no “severability clause”, a problem with just one part of the legislation invalidates the whole thing. …
The Rockefeller-Snowe legislation is the result of nearly a year’s worth of consultation and input from cyber-security experts in the private sector, government and civil liberties community.
– The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved
the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 March 24. The legislation attempts to address the
nation’s well-documented flagging cyber-security efforts.
quot;The legislation is the culmination of a year’s worth of consultation and
i…
The latest version eliminates earlier concerns granting the president kill-switch powers in the case of a national cyber-security emergency.
– After months of
revisions, Sens. Jay
Rockefeller (D-WVa) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) released their latest
Cybersecurity Act 2010, which would address the nation’s flagging
cyber-security efforts. The Senate Commerce is expected to mark up the
legislation March 24.
The legislation is
the culmi…
Instead of going into a lengthy analysis about the pros and cons of Chris Dodd’s financial reform bill, I’ll let the Senator speak for himself:This legislation will not stop the next crisis from coming. No legislation can…What Dodd is really saying i…
The P2P Cyber Protection and Informed User Act would prohibit peer-to-peer file-sharing programs from being installed without the informed consent of the authorized computer user. The legislation would also prohibit P2P software that would prevent the authorized user from blocking the installation of a P2P file-sharing program and/or disabling or removing any P2P file-sharing program.
– Software developers would be required to clearly inform users when their
files are made available to other peer-to-peer users under legislation
introduced Feb. 24 by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Thune, R-S.D. The
legislation comes just one day after the Federal Trade Commission notified…
With an endorsement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican Rep. Chris Smith pushes for legislation that would prohibit U.S. Internet companies doing business with China from sharing customer information with Beijing.
– Riding the massive
publicity wave generated by Google’s current censorship dispute with
China, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) Jan. 14 urged his fellow lawmakers to
take up his legislation that would make it crime for U.S. companies to
share personal user information with quot;Internet-restricting quot…
Both progressives and conservatives question the constitutionality of the healthcare bill. Specifically, people from across the aisle say that the government cannot force people to buy private health insurance.On the left, progressives such as law sch…
As I have repeatedly written (see this and this), the new derivatives legislation is so bad that it probably increases – rather than decreases – the risk to the financial system.William Greider has a great piece in The Nation pointing out: Who drafted…
Ron Paul tells Bloomberg that Congressman Watt has just more or less killed the bill to audit the fed:Representative Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who has called for an end to the Federal Reserve, said legislation he introduced to audit monetary polic…
The Arizona Republican introduces legislation to block the Federal Communications Commission from imposing further network neutrality rules on broadband carriers.
– On the same day the Federal Communications Commission voted to begin consideration of codifying and expanding the agency’s network neutrality principles, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced legislation that would prohibit the FCC from enacting rules that would
regulate the Internet.
“Keeping busi…
Senator Cantwell said this today about the new derivatives legislation passed by the Financial Services Committee: The shenanigans just began here in Washington.What is moving through on the House side is a bill that supposedly has a new rule, but has…
Everyone knows that the lobbyists for the financial giants are trying to kill any tough new regulations.But they are also trying to weaken existing regulations.Specifically, Robert Borosage notes:The [derivatives] bill that the House will consider on W…
Legislation calls for federal agencies to create a road map detailing each agencys cyber-security role and the level of funding required to fulfill the research objectives.
– A U.S. House subcommittee Sept. 23 approved legislation requiring federal agencies to develop, update and implement strategic plans for cyber-security R amp;D. The Cybersecurity Research and Development Amendments Act of 2009 calls for agencies to create a road map detailing each agencys cyber-secur…
Legislation calls for federal agencies to create a road map detailing each agencys cyber-security role and the level of funding required to fulfill the research objectives.
– A U.S. House subcommittee Sept. 23 approved legislation
requiring federal agencies to develop, update and implement strategic
plans for cyber-security R amp;D. The Cybersecurity
Research and Development Amendments Act of 2009 calls for agencies to create a road map
detailing each agencys cyber-s…
Sen. Robert Menendez introduces legislation to license and regulate online poker sites. Current law effectively bans online gambling by prohibiting financial institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers. Poker players claim their game is one of skill and differs from other types of online gambling such as sports wagering.
– Online poker advocates upped the legislative ante Aug. 6 with the introduction of a bill in the U.S. Senate that would
legalize online poker and other games of skill. Virtually all forms of online gambling are illegal under the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement
Act, which prohibits finan…
Legislation would carve out an exception to national law that outlaws wireless jamming devices. The measure also requires that jamming devices and systems be approved by the FCC and may only be sold, marketed or operated by approved correctional facilities.
– The Senate Commerce Committee approved Aug. 5 legislation that would allow states to petition the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to operate wireless
jamming devices in correctional facilities. Current law prohibits interference with wireless services, a safeguard to ensure the dependabili…
This is not the time for policymakers and business leaders to disengage and take potshots — be they from the right or the left. Now is the time for negotiation and compromise to secure reform.
WASHINGTON — Democrats say the full House won’t vote on sweeping health care legislation until September.
It’s part of a three-way deal between conservative Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House.
Under the de…
WASHINGTON — States would be required to ban driving while texting or face the loss of highway funds under legislation being pushed by a group of Democratic senators.
Aimed at reducing driver distraction and highway deaths and injuries,…
